“We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. And that will be a day not of the white man, not of the black man. That will be the day of man as man.

Dr. Martin Luther King, March 25, 1965, Montgomery, Alabama

The freedom march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in the cause of African-American voting rights was pivotal to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The Selma demonstrations and marches totaled 18 days. Begun on March 7, 1965, the first march was led by Congressman John Lewis, then head of SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee). When the initial group of approximately 600 marchers reached the Edmund Pettus Bridge and crossed into Dallas County, the were met by state troopers who proceeded to beat them back ost brutally. That first “Bloody Sunday” was the beginning of other horrific confrontations leading to the death of civil rights activist James Reeb. The third march, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, began on March 21st and culminated on the steps of the State Capital Building in Montgomery, Alabama on March 25th, 1965.

Selma speeches

The following is a rarely shown documentary of the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965. It is stark and brief and filled with sights, sounds and music.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s last work was to support the sanitation workers on strike in Memphis, Tennessee. The following is an excerpt from a documentary on their story and excerps from King’s speeches in support of their efforts.

Dr. King spoke about the historical ramifications of slavery and inequality–with the strong belief that there was still so much work to do and unwincingly put himself on the line as a leader who would never stand down from what he felt was necessary to do.

He gave the speech at the National Association of TV and Radio Announcers convention.

The ultimate weakness of violence
is that it is a descending spiral,
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.
Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar,
but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.
Through violence you murder the hater,
but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate….
Returning violence for violence multiples violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Talk about a phoenix rising, the indomitableChristy Martin (49-5-3, 31 KOs) will be returning to the ring on June 4th in a rematch with Dakota Stone (9-8-5) @ the Staples Center in Los Angles. The six-round light middleweight bout will be Christy’s first in two years — and with a little luck and a lot of boxing savvy will be her 50th win. Check out the piece by Bob Velin in USA Todayhere.

Christina Hammer, 20, hailing from Germany will be fighting Sweden’s own Maria Lindberg, 34, in what will be an interesting bout given that Lindberg @ 5’5″ will be giving up 5″ in height & a weight class to the younger fighter.

No media outlet has been announced though I’d guess it can be found on streaming video. The co-bout will be Lukas Koriechy vs. Hussein Bayram fighting for the WBO Super Welterweight Intercontinental Championship.